Architects – Hollow Crown Review

Architect’s third studio album, 2009’s Hollow Crown, sits at an unusual crossroads in the band’s career and yet has the honour of being the breakthrough gateway through which the band gained a large share of its fanbase.

The album is largely a departure from their heavier, more technical records, which the band have since described as ‘Dillinger Escape Plan Worship Records,’ and yet is nowhere near as accessible as the album which followed it, 2011’s The Hear And Now.

Hollow Crown walks the path between both style, featuring clean vocals prominently, few blasts and relatively straightforward songwriting when compared to the older albums, yet there are still a fair number of complex and intricate sections, plenty of very harsh vocals and a much more metal guitar tone than the album which followed it. Hollow Crown is in fact constantly winning praise for its guitar tone, which has been described as perfect on numerous occasions.

The album is of a consistent quality; there is no filler and no weak tracks to spoil the experience. My personal favourite tracks are ‘Follow The Water,’ and ‘Every Last Breath,’ but you can’t really go wrong with any of them.

Overall, Hollow Crown is a good album and even if you liked their old stuff this shouldn’t be too commercial for your tastes and conversely, if you liked their new album but hate mathcore and extreme metal, Hollow Crown shouldn’t be too far out or too extreme for your tastes.